Lyr Req: When First I Came to Caledonia (K Drever)

Subject: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 01:02 PM

Hello,

Has anyone got the lyrics of the song 'Caledonia' sung by Kris Drever on Alan Kelly's album 'After the Morning'

I can't make out what he says in some parts of the song.

It's not to be mistaken with the well known Dougie MacLean song which is also called 'Caledonia'

Thanks

Alan W

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 01:09 PM

Alan, in the event no one has the lyrics to hand, would you be kind enough to post a few lines you are sure of?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: Megan L
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 01:38 PM

Got this from an old thread about the caledonia mine in Nova Scotia.

WHEN FIRST I WENT TO CALEDONIA

When First I went to Caledonia
I got loading at Number three
And I got Boarding at Donald Norman's
He had a daughter who could make good tea

And it was me and my brother Charlie
The biggest shavers you ever did see
We speared eels in the month of April
And starving slaves on Scataree

I went to Norman's for a pair of brochan
A pound of soap and a cake of tea
But Norman said he would not give them
Till fish got plenty on Scataree

So I went over to their big harbor
Just on purpose for to see the spray
I spied a maiden from Bouladrie over
She seemed to me like the queen of may

Now if I had pen from Pennsylvania
And if I had paper of purest white
And if I had ink of the rosy morning
A true love not unto you I'd write

But I wish I was on the deepest ocean
As far from land as once I could be
A sailing over the deepest ocean
Where a women's love would not trouble me

I'd lay my head to a cask of brandy
And its a dandy I do declare
For when I'm drinking I'm seldom thinking
How I can gain that young lady fair

When First I went to Caledonia
I got loading at Number three
And I got Boarding at Donald Norman's
He had a daughter who could make good tea



old thread

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 03:17 PM

http://open.spotify.com/track/4TXG1T88YMqLuat6iPFNCQ

The title used by Kris Drever (I think) is

When First I Came to Caledonia

I was unable to hear the lyrics because the site I linked to said that Spotify was not available here (I'm in Canada). However, you can hear the song there. Because Drever is one of the folks on that cut, I expect it's the song the OP wanted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST,999
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 03:20 PM

Hi, Meg. Sorry I hadn't seen your post when I did the last one.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: Megan L
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 03:31 PM

No problem my friend I am sitting listening to "Rough night in Jericho"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Feb 13 - 08:36 PM

That's great

Thanks very much... much appreciated

Alan W

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 09:52 AM

Kris's source....?


http://thesession.org/recordings/2302

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Kris Drever, Caledonia
From: GUEST,kenny
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 10:10 AM

Link above was from me. That was a piece of guesswork. I just listened to an excerpt on iTunes. The words are more or less as posted above, but Kris is singing a different melody to that sung by Tony Cuffe.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN FIRST I CAME TO CALEDONIA (K Drever)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Mar 13 - 12:33 AM

I listened to this song on Spotify, and the words are considerably different from those posted above:

WHEN FIRST I CAME TO CALEDONIA
As sung by Fine Friday featuring Kris Drever, on "Mowing the Machair"

When first I came to Caledonia,
I got loaded at Number Three.
I took up lodgings with Donald Norman.
He had a daughter; she'd make good tea.

And there was me and my brother Charlie.
Two bigger shavers you ne'er did see,
Out spikin' eels in the month of April,
And starvin' slaves out on Scataree.

I went to Norman to buy some brochan,
A cake of soap and a pound of tea,
But Norman said that I couldn't have them
Till fish got plenty on Scataree.

So I went down to the big harbor.
I only went for to see the spray.
I spied a gal from Bouladrie over
Who looked to me like the queen of May.

And if I'd pen from Pennsylvania,
And if I'd paper so snowy white,
And if I'd ink of the rosy morning,
A true love letter to her I'd write.

But my foot of (?) the deepest ocean
As far from land as a man could be,
Sailing over the darkest water.
A woman's love would never bother me.

I set my head to a cask of brandy,
And it's a dandy I do declare,
For when I'm drinkin' I'm seldom thinkin'
How I could gain that young lady fair.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When First I Came to Caledonia (K Drever)
From: GUEST,Maurice Condie
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 08:46 AM

Just for information.
Brochan (brachen, brochen) is a gruel (oatmeal dish) usually with some addition of other ingredients, e.g. honey. It is occasionally used to denote porridge.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When First I Came to Caledonia (K Drever)
From: GUEST,Philly
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 08:53 AM

is this a traditional song by "anon"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When First I Came to Caledonia (K Drever)
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 10:35 AM

Maurice, the word is not spelled correctly in the DT but "shoes" is the intended meaning of the Gaelic word. (Br'ogan with the inflection over the O. Can't do it with my keyboard) You are right that the incorrect spelling means gruel.
Philly, this song was collected and first published by Ronnie MacEachern. He got it from Amby Thomas of Deep Cove Cape Breton. It was probably first recorded by The Men Of The Deeps.
Ronnie visited us on the Mudcat some time ago and told this story:

Subject: RE: Origins: When First I Went to Caledonia
From: GUEST,ronnie maceachern - PM
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 05:09 PM

this is another note concerning this song which i got from amby thomas. it was amby (ambrose) himself who told me the song was to be sung to the air of "mo ruin geal dileas"......when he sang the song to me his version of the melody was close but not the usually sung melody. the man he learned it from (lauchie macneil) was a singer of gaelic songs and i suspect this melody variation is one of ambys creation, not having heard the song or sung the song for a few years before i came and asked him to sing it...... around the same time as i was recording songs with amby (1975-1977 APPROX.) I WAS ALSO VISITING MIKE AND MARY-ANN MACDoUGALL OF ingonish.
i asked mike if he knew of the song and sang it to him as amby had sung it to me. mike said he had heard the song being sung but the melody was .....and then he sang me to standard version of mo ruin geal dileas melody, only without words, as he could not remember which gaelic song that melody was to. however !!! and this is where things get really exciting bouys and gulls!!!! i was listening to one of the recordings i made the evening we had this discussion and while mike was singing to me the melody to caledonia as he remembered it, mary-ann (mikes mother and traditional singer of great note) was singing along with him...i guess the stars were just alighned properly or maybe just my lucky night...the only line sung, the only words remembered, were........"and starving souls out on scatterie".....so here we have it..
   just to backtrack a little now...when i first visited amby he sang the words starving staves....i did not understand what this was and after going home and transcribing the song i went back and asked him what the lyric meant...he said he didn't know and said he might have remembered it wrong and he wondered if i knew what it might be....i said no i didn't know and suggested (which i never should have done) that maybe it was something else that sounded like staves, like maybe slaves and he said well yes maybe that was what i was.....
a few weeks later when i was visiting amby again he asked me if i could record the song again as he was sure that slaves was the right word. so we recorded the song again with the word slaves... i have ever since that day been quite sceptical about this word and feel that amby may have accepted this word because i had suggested it. i felt stave was the proper word for the song and when i sent the lyric to the publisher to be printed i am quite sue i sent stave, mainly because i remember my great disappointment when i got the finished product and there was slave.
.....so as you can imagine i am totally shocked to find this mary-ann lyric version, and i truly hope someone appreciates this discovery as do i......thank you for your time and interest....have a nice day
this note is dedicated to the slaves, the staves and the souls of scatterie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: When First I Came to Caledonia (K Drever)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 02 Dec 13 - 12:05 PM

Here's that post in its thread: Origins: When First I Went to Caledonia.

~ Becky in Long Beach